pillar
pronunciation
How to pronounce pillar in British English:
UK [ˈpɪlə(r)]
How to pronounce pillar in American English:
US [ˈpɪlər]
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- Noun:
- a fundamental principle or practice
- anything tall and thin approximating the shape of a column or tower
- a prominent supporter
- a vertical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (as a monument or a column of air)
- (architeture) a tall cylindrical vertical upright and used to support a structure
Word Origin
- pillar
- pillar: [13] Pillar comes ultimately from Latin pīla ‘pillar’ (source also of English compile, pilaster [16], and pile ‘heap’). In Vulgar Latin this was extended to *pīlāre, which passed into Anglo-Norman piler. This was the form in which English originally acquired it, and the -ar ending was not grafted on to it until the 14th century.=> compile, pilaster, pile
- pillar (n.)
- c. 1200, from Old French piler "pillar, column, pier" (12c., Modern French pilier) and directly from Medieval Latin pilare, from Latin pila "pillar, stone barrier." Figurative sense of "prop or support of an institution or community" is first recorded early 14c. Phrase pillar to post is c. 1600, originally of tennis, exact meaning obscure.
Example
- 1. And yet the myth has persisted that bin laden has been the organization 's financial pillar .
- 2. President obama has made the lifting of the amendment a key pillar of his trade policy .
- 3. This three pillar structure would produce three tangible benefits .
- 4. That is indeed a major pillar of the 12th five-year plan .
- 5. The first drop falls into the tray and forms a crater , then a crown , and at last a pillar .